Capita to continue managing Brit teachers' pensions well into the 2020s

Four more years! Four more years!

Outsourcing giant Capita is to continue administering the British Teacher's Pension Scheme for a good few years after the Department of Education extended its contract.

Capita's books are drenched in red as the company continues its efforts to turn things around. Having managed to lose £62.6m (before tax) in 2019, the outfit will welcome the £60m due to be lobbed its way over four years from October 2021 for the privilege of administering the pensions.

There are more than two million members in the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) and Capita is responsible for calculating and paying pensions to more than 700,000 recipients. As well as administering the thing, the outsourcer must also take care of "digital solutions" and, worryingly, "innovation".

Still, it's not as if the outsourcing company (so often the victim of an unfortunate bit of rhyming where its name is concerned) has ever comprehensively screwed up the management of pensions. Oh, wait, it kind of did.

Capita has been dealing with the TPS since 1996 – more than 20 years. In 2003 Capita Hartshead was re-appointed following another procurement competition for a seven year contract, which was then extended another year to 2011. Capita won a seven-year extension from the Department for Education (DfE) in 2011, following by another three-year extension.

While The Register understands the contract went through on the nod this time around, Capita will need to keep its nose squeaky clean ahead of a bit of competition in 2025.

The DfE has problems of its own following a not-entirely-smooth rollout of the school meal voucher system for newly home-schooled children (courtesy of Edenred, which posted "strong gains" for Q1 2020 ). Problems with the scheme (such as long wait times) led to the site needing an urgent "upgrade" over the recent bank holiday weekend, according to the DfE.